Staff Picks (December): Egg Cream #1

Dec 16, 2018

I should preface this review by saying that Egg Cream #1 by Liz Suburbia is a wild thing to categorize for someone going in blind. It’s primarily a sequel to the graphic novel Sacred Heart, originally published by Fantagraphics, which takes up much of the page count in this first issue. And if I can do anything with this review, I hope that it’s to convince more people to pick up that book on top of this issue. Honestly, I’m running out of friends who I haven’t forced to read it.

The sequel section of Egg Cream #1 focuses on the lives of a handful of the characters from the original comic, now being interviewed as adults for a documentary surrounding the events of their teenaged years. In many ways, it immediately matches the storytelling style and tone of the first comic, but there’s a focus that better fits the adulthood of all the characters now. There was a building dread in Sacred Heart that you repeatedly fight off when it becomes clear that the characters are largely incapable of emotionally confronting their horrible situation that was only going to eventually boil over. But Egg Cream lets the now adult characters confront those things after the fact, in a way that makes the original events seem horrifyingly plausible. I should say that it works very well as a standalone story so far, but it lands a few strong emotional blows that work best alongside the first part.

Egg Cream #1 also includes a section of illustrated dreams, which feel disjointed and surreal but also encompass wholly relatable feelings.

And that’s always been my experience reading Liz Suburbia’s comics, from the Cyanide Milkshake zines I’ve found to my travel worn copy of Sacred Heart, and now the first issue of Egg Cream. When they’re not just short, anarchic fun, they always build up a mood that my brain is lock step with by the end. I don’t know if it’s a book that will appeal to everyone, but if you’re an outcast teen, punk adult, or interested in a story about a DiY post-cult community, give it a read!